Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Connor Zilisch has won nine races this year as he enters the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
Corey Heim has won eight races on the season and has already advanced to the truck series semifinals.
Will both drivers win titles in 2025 as they leave their series after this year?
Heim should. Zilisch might.
Can Connor Zilisch win the Xfinity title this season?
For the next couple of months, they are trying to keep their heads on the present goals and not ones beyond 2025.
Neither driver has to win a title to determine their future. Zilisch already has a Cup ride, as he will replace Daniel Suarez at Trackhouse Racing.
“For now, I’m focused on winning this championship … and closing out the year that we’ve had,” Zilisch said. “It’s going to be important for me to race for a championship.
“Obviously, I have a big year for me next year going Cup full time, but I’ll cross that bridge definitely when we get there.”
Heim’s 2026 plans haven’t been announced.
He will likely drive several Cup races for 23XI Racing in a fourth car, but the number of races could be contingent on the results of the team’s lawsuit against NASCAR, which is expected to go to trial. He will also likely run in Xfinity for Sam Hunt Racing, again with the number of races (or a full season) to be determined.
“I’m just kind of focused on what we’ve got at hand and focused on the 2025 Truck Series championship,” Heim said.
Will Corey Heim claim the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title in 2025?
For Zilisch, his biggest competition could come from within the halls at JR Motorsports, as Justin Allgaier had three victories this year. The only other driver with more than one win is Austin Hill.
Hill also had three, but he opens the playoffs with no playoff points after his suspension for wrecking Aric Almirola a couple of months ago at Indianapolis.
Zilisch has won four consecutive races entering the playoffs (albeit one where he got out early and substitute driver Parker Kligerman finished the Daytona race being the first across the finish line). He has won seven of the last eight Xfinity events.
It has been an incredible string but the biggest question is, can Zilisch beat Allgaier at Phoenix, the site of the championship race? That will be a hard task, and with no races at Richmond and New Hampshire as part of the late-season race schedule for Xfinity, he hasn’t had the ability to gain much experience on a shorter, flat track.
Zilisch finished 16th at Phoenix earlier this year. He was fourth at Iowa (a similar track) in August, but he did win Sunday at Word Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway).
Connor Zilisch has had a dominant season in Xfinity.
The one thing in Zilisch’s favor is that he has 64 playoff points, and he should make it to the final one-race round as long as he runs respectable in the next six races. No other driver has any significant cushion.
Allgaier, Hill, Sam Mayer and Jesse Love appear to be the ones who should fight for the three remaining spots at Phoenix. They all have significantly more experience at Phoenix than Zilisch.
“Justin, especially at Phoenix … he’s going to be really tough to beat there,” Zilisch said. “He’s got speed everywhere.
“They’ve kind of just been in a bit of a dry spell with small things taking them out of races. But the speed is still there. So I know that when we go to Phoenix, it’s not anyone’s race. It’s going to be a race for a championship.”
In trucks, Heim has that experience at Phoenix with five career starts — two in trucks, one in Xfinity and one in ARCA.
Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith, the only drivers other than Heim in the playoffs with multiple wins this year, would argue that their records on short tracks show they could challenge Heim at Phoenix.
Heim has already advanced to the semifinal round with his win in the playoff opener at Darlington. Riggs is in a decent position, while Smith is a couple of points behind the cutline after wrecking early out of Darlington.
Corey Heim has dominated the truck series in 2025.
And what about defending champion Ty Majeski? He hasn’t won yet this year, but like Xfinity defending champion Allgaier, he should be tough at Phoenix. The question for Majeski is will he get there.
With the way they have run the last couple of months, Heim and Riggs should make it to Phoenix. Majeski, Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger are the three drivers who will likely vie for the final two spots (Chandler Smith possibly could but he hasn’t had a top-five since his North Wilkesboro win). They have experience in the playoffs.
“We have definitely had the best on-average speed of the bunch. But the playoff structure is so difficult, as far as everyone’s even at Phoenix. Whoever can bring their best stuff at Phoenix is obviously the champion,” Heim said.
“I feel like, in general, we’ve been the truck to beat the team to beat. But at the end of the day, if you can make it to Phoenix, be one of those four guys that are guaranteed to go [for the title], you definitely have got a shot.”
While the Cup Series has no distinct favorite to win the title, the Xfinity and trucks have their cemented favorites.
That could be viewed as a good thing.
Heim and Zilisch need to feel this pressure. They need to feel the pressure of winning when they’re supposed to win. Both could use a title before getting to Cup just to have the confidence they can prevail in this format.
That could mean as much as any championship trophy.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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